Frequently Asked Questions - and Answers to them- Can I go to Amsterdam during my long transfer?
- In principle, yes. Amsterdam city is close to the airport and well connected. Keep in mind that Schiphol and/or the train company NS is currently understaffed and you need to get back to the airport a lot sooner then normal. (see Mess in Amsterdam thread for refrence)
- The easiest way to reach central Amsterdam is by train. There are trains leaving Schiphol to Amsterdam and vice versa every 10 minutes or even less, the trip to Centraal takes about 15 minutes.
- Return ticket to Amsterdam Centraal costs 9,20. You can buy it online and use QR code on your phone, print it or you can buy a ticket in the blue and yellow machines in the baggage hall or in the train station area. Note that buying a paper ticket in the machine carries a surcharge of 1 EUR per ticket. You can also get a 10% discount for off-peak ticket if you book 4 days in advance
- Towards Amsterdam, look for departures to Amsterdam Centraal only. There are trains in other directions that pass through Amsterdam Zuid, but all trains to Centraal terminate there. (Note: service outages might affect train routing. If you can, plan your trip on ns.nl website)
- From Amsterdam back to the airport, look for Sprinters to Hoofddorp or Den Haag Centraal, or Intercity Direct to Rotterdam, Breda or Brussels. Imporant: Do not take regular Intercity to Rotterdam! These trains go through Haarlem and Hemstede-Aardenhout to Leiden, not via the airport. (A good rule of thumb, at least until new generation trains start running - does it have locomotives at end and regular carriages? Then it's an ICD and it goes through the airport. Is it a unit, either double decker, or with those funny cabs on top at the end? Then it's a regular IC, these do not run to the airport from Centraal.)
- I have a self-connecting transfer. Will I have to leave airside and go landside? What if I don't have any checked luggage?
- If you have checked luggage, you will have to go landside. It is not possible to re-check baggage in the baggage claim area, and it is not possible to enter airside from baggage claim either.
- If you don't have checked luggage, you can carry on to your departure gate. In case of Schengen and Secure Non-Schengen arrivals (see Wiki), there is no security check either. There are also transfer desks in the airside, where you can usually obtain a BP for your connecting flight.
- The exception is self-connection to M gates, used by easyJet and Ryanair. To reach M pier, you do have to leave the secure area.
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Last edited by Fabo.sk; Dec 10, 2022 at 4:40 pm